Humans
Location: The Midlands (though they have some settlements in other regions) Government: Monarchy (One royal bloodline) Attitude: Clever and Proud Humanity, or Man, is one of the most common races, and their largest empire is based in the Midlands, though offshoots of their race exist in the Amazons of Twilight Island and Frostborn of the Blasted Tundra. Culture and Lifestyle Life in the Midlands is comparatively more comfortable when one considers the neighboring alternatives. Even the peasantry enjoys fairly pleasant, if dull lives. The moderate climate allows for plentiful harvests, with droughts or famine nearly unheard of in all the nation's history. While not without its share of conflict, this slice of land has allowed humanity to flourish. Since settling in the Midlands following the ancient wars, humanity has always been led by a king. Beyond the capital, most territories fall under the ownership of various high ranking nobles, who in turn pay fealty to the monarch. Outlying towns and farming communities generally govern themselves, but pay taxes to the crown along with the rest. While the reigning king wields absolute authority in all matters, the nobility also exercise their fair share of power and influence throughout the realm. Every barony, county, and duchy has its own private army or guard force, either composed of mercenaries or privately-trained troops. In addition, every noble can raise levies from his peasants. Of course, a barony with its troops deployed and levies raised isn't that powerful, but if bandied together, they can rival the Midlandian Army. This rarely happens, though, because the nobles are generally in conflict. Religion The Order of Light is officially separated from the kingdom, though it has a certain position of power. They worship the Goddess of Light---the embodiment of all earthly virtues and a fount of enlightenment. There are many names for her: The Bringer of Light, the Beacon in the Dark, the Everburning, etc. Through the church, her disciples hope to cleanse the world of darkness and evil in all of its forms, from the sins of the unwashed masses up to the masters of evil. It is a religion that promotes learning and self-improvement through rejection of evil. Those that follow the ways of the Goddess of Light will live richer lives and will ascend to heaven with pure souls. Paladins are militant arm of the church, but are bound by the laws of the kingdom to operate as peacekeepers and reinforcements in a time of war. However, the paladins serve justice, righteousness and their Pope, not the King of Midland. At the moment the Church is allied with the royal family, but they retain the right to pull their support from an unjust king due to ancient agreements. It is their responsibility to keep peace across the land, and thus they are completely independent of any nation of kingdom. Paladins enjoy a broader freedom and right to travel than most others due to their bade of office. The other major branch of the church consists of clerics and scribes, who act as healers and lore-keepers dedicated to recording the history of the kingdom and maintaining the books in the holy library. Scribes are constantly copying and re-copying old manuscripts so they won't fade away into obscurity. In their eyes, to forget the past is to doom humanity to repeating the same mistakes that lead to its downfall. The church is one of the only avenues for education besides the Alakaz Academy of Magic. There is a chapel in every major settlement, but the Grand Cathedral is built within a city that has grown around it. Clerics, in addition to their powers of healing and light, are very well read and act as teachers, preaching to the masses and teaching the younger generations. The two branches have different hierarchies, but are a unified whole. The leaders of each hierarchy must confer with each other before they can take any serious actions that effect the clergy or the faithful. At the head of both branches sits the pope. It is his job to listen to the heads of both branches and act as an impartial third party in the event of a disagreement between them. He is also the chief interpreter of the will of their goddess. History The history of humanity is one steeped in legend and tragedy. Much of it has been lost to the ages, and some believe that to be for the better. What is known with certainty is that the first humans came from across the western seas, hailing from a massive continent not unlike this one. When they made landfall in the Midlands, they immediately began to colonize it. The first humans were little more than pilgrims, making preparations for the bulk of their kind to arrive and creating simple settlements. As their race wasn't born with an innate connection to magic, they had developed technology including machinery and firearms, which they brought with them to the new land. The land they discovered was free of any major empire to oppose them, as the elves had already left for the moon, leaving their dwarven and orcish slaves behind. The dwarves and the orcs were fighting each other for a number of reasons and paid little mind to the humans, until they saw the tools they possessed. The dwarves were fascinated with the machines the humans had, immediately seeing potential applications for them in their mines, while the orcs wanted to get their hands on the firearms the humans had developed for their applications in warfare. The early human settlers sold technology to both sides of the conflict, fueling it to the point where both the dwarves and the orcs were exhausting more supplies and manpower to the war than ever before. This laid the foundation for the human invasion. The ancient empire of mankind arrived, possessing technology so advanced that it has yet to be matched by any modern developments, even after nearly ten thousand years. They came at the helms of great airships and steam barges, wielding devices of lightning and fire and commanding innumerable legions of mechanical warriors. They rolled across the land, driving out both orc and dwarf, laying waste to anything that stood in their way. Once this was done and both races were forced into retreat, mankind began setting up a capital city and declared themselves lords of the land. For a time, humans lived in peace. Then, the elves came back from the moon, led by a terrible new leader with power greater than any other elf in history. Spells rained from the skies as the elves struck out at humanity, igniting a lengthy war between the two species. Humanity and its militaristic society were more prepared than the elves initially believed, managing to fight back and organize themselves. It was a war of technology against magic, with two of the most powerful races battling against each other for supreme control of the world. It was only the advent of the human-built Juggernaut series of Steamforged that the war turned in their favor. These massive machines of war stomped through elven defenses and formations, sending them into retreat. All of the elves were forced back onto the moon, and they conceded to a peace treaty. The war seemed over as delegates from both sides signed the contract that would keep the elves on the moon. This, however, was only a deception of the elves, for their queen had a new plan. The elves turned their spells upon the earth, blasting the human empire from orbit. This bombardment weakened the humans, scattering their armies and destroying many of their works. The empress now had a direct line to the human capital and victory. Few records exist to verify how long the conflict between elves and humans lasted, but it is known that the day it ended was the darkest day in all of the world. The largest elven invasion yet occurred, with the elven armies marching upon the human capital. Elves and humans battled across the wasteland that had been born out of their warfare, and the elves, using their most powerful spells, almost broke through the human defensive line and won. However, amongst the endless armies of nameless soldiers, a hero emerged. Wielding neither firearm nor spell but a sword steeped in legend, he cut his way through the elven armies, making his way to their dark empress himself. He blocked her most powerful attack and plunged the blade into her heart, ending her life and the war, for in doing so he severed her control over the elven people. In her last moments, she declared that if she couldn't have the world, none could. She enacted the Cataclysm and sacrificed herself, unleashing all of her power which manifested in a necrotic cloud of entropy that covered the entire world, rotting people, creatures and civilizations and wiping almost all life from the planet. The cloud reached up to the moon itself, to blight the elves who had failed her, before taking solid form, thus creating the Lunar Chain, forever linking the moon to the planet. This destroyed the unified human empire and left the old continent a ruined wasteland. Despite the Dark Witch's efforts, humanity and other races survived, clinging to life. The only tree possessed of enough magic and life to survive the Cataclysm and heal the land was the Great Skill Tree within what is now known as the Great Forest. From it all current grass, plants and trees came, slowly spreading over the continent. Because of it, humanity and all of the other surface dwelling races were able to survive and eventually rebuild, but the damage was done. The great empire and armies of man were gone, along with their unified spirit and mechanical armies. Humanity has existed ever since, living their lives and slowly rebuilding their civilization. Lost technology and ancient magical ruins have become available to them, allowing them to reclaim lost bits of history and lore. Though their relations with the elves, dwarves and orcs are hardly friendly, they aren't nearly as hostile as they once were, with time healing some of the wounds of the past. With a new royal bloodline, an army and a major religion, humanity is once more a major force in the world, but not nearly as powerful as it once was. In recent years, the last few decades or so, humanity has been recovering from its latest war. A force of countless barbarians from the north, the once-human Frostborn, marching on the Midlands under the leadership of a terrible leader. Humanity, under the rule of King Leopold, pushed back the Frostborn armies with the combined might of the Midlandian Army and the paladins of the Order of Light. It has been a few decades since the end of that conflict, and wounds have begun to heal. With the north sealed off, the people of the Midlands know peace for the first time in a long while. And during this time, a very particular child is born, one who was destined for something... he just doesn't know what. Technology Once, human technology was unparalleled. As they didn't discover magic early in their civilization, they focused on invention instead. The humans of the old empire commanded legions of mechanical warriors and wielded firearms. Their ships were fast and loaded with cannons and their Juggernauts were nearly unstoppable. After the Cataclysm, humanity fell into a dark age, much like every other race. The secrets to building Steamforged and firearms have long since been lost and the race had to start over from scratch. In the ten thousand years since, with the world slowly healing and the Midlands once more fertile, agriculture, hunting and smithing returned as cornerstones of the human empire. They have built cities, towns, towers and ships and are once more a great power in the world, though they are still only a shadow of what they once were. Their soldiers wield steel weaponry and wear steel armor, with rangers using bows or crossbows. There is no more mechanical power; only the power of man. Human Settlements Humans are very well-settled and can be found in many regions of the world. The Midlands: Capital City: The largest, most important city in all of the Midlands. Holy City: The center of human religion in the Midlands. Home Town: The Home Town is the starting place and childhood home of the Brotagonist. Trade Stop: Trade Stop is the trading hub of the Midlands. Port City: The seat of Midland's naval power. Industrial City: The home of the prestigious Harkaennen family, Baron Albert von Harkaennen himself rules this barony and is the guiding hand behind its industrious nature. Robsalot: The victim of Harkaennen's industrial revolution, Robsalot is a wretched little town clinging to the side of the western peaks. Warrior's Town: A small settlement along the eastern border of The Dune Seas. Alakaz Academy of Magic: The center of magical studies in the region. Fort Nameless: Fort Nameless is where all of the aspiring Nameless Rank and File Soldiers go to train. The Great Forest: Lumber Mill: A human-run operation on the outskirts of the forest. Druid Grove: The home of an ancient druid conclave that worships and protects nature. Bridgetown: A town built upon the Wellspring River, stretching across its length. The Dune Sea: West Town: The only major human settlement in the Dune Sea. Quarry Junction: A strip mining operation deep in the desert. Twilight Island: Port Safari: The main port of the island is home to a community of thrill-seekers, big game hunters, trophy collectors, gentlemen and pugilism enthusiasts. Here, they gather in the many lodges built to accommodate them, drawing up plans for the next big hunt and sharing stories of the mysterious amazon women and Hunter's Camp: One of the forward most camps for the big game hunters, this camp is set up near the entrance to the Valley of the Behemoths, which can only be accessed through a rope bridge stretching across an imposing chasm. Notable Members ◾ Androgynous Cleric Kid ◾ Backstabbing Princes ◾ Badass Butler ◾ Brotagonist ◾ Cheerful Druid ◾ Corrupt and Deceptive Noble ◾ Crazed Alchemist ◾ Dick-Ass Thief ◾ Eternally Hot-Blooded Rival ◾ Evil Monarch ◾ Evil Warrior ◾ Gunslinging Loner ◾ Happy-Go-Lucky Paladin ◾ Lifelong Warrior Friend ◾ Loyal Captain of the Guard ◾ Nameless Rank-And-File Soldier ◾ Not-So-Spoony Bard ◾ Perverted Archmage ◾ Realigned Villainous Vixen ◾ Rich and Arrogant Prince ◾ Rival Gunslinger ◾ Seasoned Veteran Relative ◾ Tsundere Warrior Girl ◾ Undead King (Formerly) ◾ Undead Warrior with Amnesia (Formerly) ◾ Zealous Pope Category:Races Category:Midlands